Reflecting lessons learned during the 2020 CityLAB Hamilton Semester in Residence (SIR) program, this toolkit is intended to support community engagement practitioners conducting virtual engagement programming online.

The coronavirus pandemic has created new challenges for facilitators and educators. Across the globe, people are being asked to lead groups online: teachers, trainers, professors, event managers, organizers, activists.

Jeanne Rewa and Daniel Hunter swiftly wrote this booklet for this moment.  They give you their top 10 principles for leading online groups, introduce you to interactive tools you can lead online, and answer commonly asked questions.

With this guide, you will be ready to successfully transition your face-to-face events for warmer online spaces.  The journey to leading groups online can be a challenge — but it is made much easier with these tips.

Bard College put out a webinar, the first in a series, “Adapting to the New Reality: Civically Engaged Universities Offer Strategies and Hope” and will have a panel: Bard College President and OSUN Chancellor Leon Botstein, Universidad Veracruzana rectora and Talloires Network vice chair Sara Ladrón de Guevara, and Tufts University President and Talloires Network chair Anthony P. Monaco. The series is sponsored by Open Society University Network (OSUN) and the Talloires Network (TN), housed at Tufts University.

Looking for McMaster Community-Engaged Education resources, presentations or webinars, articles, and frameworks for teaching and learning in an online (or offline) context?

Type of Support Needed:  Volunteer and Monetary Donations

The Disability and Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO) and HamStu have organized CareMongering Hamilton to share and organize community resources in response to COVID-19.  The goal is to organize the local community on the grassroots level to ensure vulnerable community members have access to food, housing, healthcare, and other necessities.

Volunteer Sign Up

Etransfer donations to: care@djno.ca.

Type of Support Needed: Volunteer and Donations (Monetary, cell phones, tablets, laptops, tents, sleeping bags, tarps, and individually packaged water bottles or soft drinks or juice.)

Keeping Six – Hamilton Harm Reduction Action League is a community-based organization that defends the rights, dignity, and humanity of people who use drugs – and the Hamilton Social Medicine Response Team (HAMSMaRT) are organizing to provide support and street outreach for people in Hamilton experiencing homelessness during COVID-19.

Types of Support Needed:  Monetary and PPE (personal protective equipment) Donations

Type of Support Needed:  Monetary Donations 

Food4Kids will be providing gift cards to families registered in their program by mail. They are committed to ensuring children involved with Food4Kids have access to food throughout the closure.

Type of Support Needed:  Monetary Donations

Hamilton Food Share is accepting monetary donations to buy wholesale food to supply food banks across the city.  For Hamiltonians needing food; food banks have modified their service delivery according to the guidelines set out by public health. Client intake has been shortened, food is being prepackaged, meal programs are making prepared meals and handing them out.

The Government of Canada is working with provincial and territorial governments to respond to COVID-19.  They are seeking volunteers to help in the following areas:

1. Case tracking and contact tracing;
2. Health system surge capacity;
3. Case data collection and reporting.

They are building an inventory of volunteers from which provincial and territorial governments can draw upon as needed and welcome ALL volunteers as they are looking for a wide variety of experiences and expertise.

Closing Date: April 24, 2020

Type of Support Needed:  Monetary Donations

United Way has launched a COVID-19 Emergency Fund for our community.  The objective of this Fund is to address the emerging and urgent social issues our community will face as a result of this critical pandemic.  The Fund has been designed to accept agency applications for new initiatives and for shifts in how programs are offered, as a direct result of the pandemic.  Funds will be vetted, approved by a local committee and will be measured on outcomes.

Type of Support Needed:  Monetary Donations

On March 27, 2020, Hamilton Foundation for Student Success (HFSS) established the COVID-19 Relief Fund to continue supporting students in need.  Donations are specifically going to fulfill HWDSB student’s nutritional and technological needs.

On April 16, 2020, a joint message by HFSS and Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board addressed that the closure of schools resulted in many HWDSB students, losing access to in-school nutrition programs and technology.  Donations to the COVID-19 Relief Fund will allow the HFSS to support students as they face these challenges.

The Government of Canada is taking immediate, significant and decisive action to support Canadians and businesses facing hardship as a result of the global COVID-19 outbreak.

Includes support for individuals, businesses, and sectors.

A letter from Sequoia Capital: Business Health During COVID-19